We celebrate the International Women in Engineering Day on June 23. This year, we are rolling out a special series for this occasion.
Last year after Maria Herrera’s historical wildcard entry in Moto3 with an all-female crew, we interviewed the master-mind behind it – Aurora Angelucci, Founder and CEO of Angeluss – Women Sport Management. This season, Aurora introduced three female engineers to her team Angeluss MTA. We are bringing you the stories of these three extraordinary young women for this International Women in Engineering Day. Today, we give you the first one, the story of data engineer Angela Benavente.
All photos © Angeluss MTA Team
On October 12, 2003, Dani Pedrosa won his first-ever world championship title after winning the Malaysian GP at Sepang International Circuit. Over ten thousand kilometers away in his home country Spain, an 8-year-old girl watching TV made herself a promise – I wanna be in MotoGP one day. This is how Angela Benavente’s journey started with the MotoGP world. Twenty years later at Jerez, Angela is the Data Engineer for Angeluss MTA Team and her team achieved a back-to-back win in the Moto3 class after US GP. In the same paddock, Pedrosa made a wild card entrance for KTM and finished 7th in the main race. What a dream come true for the little girl.
Dani Pedrosa’s 125cc title win might be a decisive moment in Angela’s childhood, but even before that, she had already been very familiar with motorcycling through her parents who are fans. “When I was very little, my parents were always watching MotoGP on TV, they really loved it! When I was eight years old, I saw Dani when he became World Champion. I watched the race, and I thought ‘this is incredible’. I also started watching every race. My parents would also take me to the circuits and watch the race there.”
With her love for MotoGP, as a young kid, Angela didn’t know this could be a future. With interests in science subjects such as physics and chemistry, she quickly found out about a potential path into the paddock. “When I was little, I didn’t know clearly what I want to be in the future. I always like physics and chemistry and all that types of subjects in school. I also knew there was this graduate program in Barcelona called Monlau for motorsport. I found out about the program when I was 15. When I did more research on it, I found out that I had to be an engineer first to study for the master’s degree. So I decided to study mechanical engineering at the university.”
Having prepared for Monlau by getting a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, Angela didn’t immediately go through with the plan to apply for Monlau. However, in the end, she circled back to what she’s always destined to do. “I really liked what I studied at the university. Then I forgot a little bit about the Monlau idea. I thought it was a very difficult world to get in. I started working as an engineer in my city. After 18 months, I decided I still have to try. I have to do it. If I don’t at least try, I’m not going to be happy in the future.”
Unfortunately, Angela made the decision to go to her dream school with a bad timing. COVID made the motorsport world stop for a little while. The good thing is, in the end, it still all worked out for Angela. “I moved to Barcelona and I started studying at Monlau. The problem was that I studied in 2020. It was very difficult to find teams where I could work. But I was very lucky. I found a job in the Spanish Championship (ESBK). It was my first job in the paddock.”
Her first job in the paddock was all about learning on the job, and it was great preparation for stepping up into the world championship the next year. “The first year is the most complicated. In 2020, because of COVID, I was also having all my classes online, so we also lost all the practice on track we were supposed to have. When I arrived at my first team, I felt like I didn’t know anything. It was difficult. But I had people around me that were previously in the world championship. I learned a lot from them. I think that was the most important year. You have to be very open-minded and try to pick up many things from all the people you have on your side. I was trying to learn about everything, ask questions all the time, and be really curious. That was what opened the doors for me to the world championship.”
As the data engineer on the team, Angela’s job is to analyze the data and help the crew chief set up the bike. Her work on the race weekend starts on the Wednesday, but sometimes she also does a little bit of preparation before going to the track. “We arrive at the circuit on Wednesday and start building everything, the box, the bike. On Thursday, we work more with the rider. We talk about the track and compare laps from previous years. On Friday, track activity starts. We try to improve step by step. At the end of Friday, we talk with the rider more and compare lap times. On Saturday, it is the most stressful because of the qualifying sessions. It’s really important to qualify in a good position and to have the bike on point for the rider because we don’t have the warm-up session on Sunday to try anything else anymore. This year it’s great that we can relax a little bit at the end of Saturday to watch the MotoGP Sprint. On Sunday, you just have to enjoy the race. I would also review the data before getting to the circuit. Sometimes I would also talk to the crew chief about stuff I’d like to try. But most of the preparation starts on Wednesday when we arrive at the circuit.”
Angela’s career path so far looked smooth enough – making it into the world championship in her second season, leaving the world championship briefly in 2022 but managing to come back this year with Angeluss MTA. But it’s not without its difficulties. “It is a bit sad for me to say it, but at the time, it’s still difficult to be a woman in the paddock. It is still a very difficult world. For women, people still think you should just work as the model next to the bike, rather than the engineer working on the bike. Sometimes they think that if you don’t have a bike or you don’t ride a bike, then you don’t know about bikes. Riders think that too, it makes it difficult to communicate with them and earn their trusts. Riders have to know you and feel safe with you, so they know what you are telling them to do is not going to hurt them on the track. It’s important to form a good relationship with the rider outside the box. Play a football match or do other things together to make the team feel like a family.”
Now still at the beginning of her career, Angela’s ultimate goal in the paddock is to be a crew chief in MotoGP. For that, she still needs years of experience. “Motosport is very difficult. I need a lot of years of experience and to know more and more about all the people around me. I need to learn from all the crew chiefs I can find on my way to MotoGP, and from the riders and the bikes. Every rider is different, and their riding styles are different, maybe one likes the bike in one way and the other one likes the bike in another way. Crew chiefs are also different, some are more open-minded and want to try many things on the bike. And then there are others that are more specific about what they want on the bike. They would be like ‘this works on the bike so we are not going to touch it.’ I still need years of experience and I’m always trying to improve myself.”
While spending time track side in the heated action, Angela also explored another option that might lead to a different engineering job in motorsport. “Last year I worked in a factory in Barcelona designing an electric scooter. It is a very different job. If you are part of a test team or in the office designing the bike, then you can know more clearly if the things are working on the bike or not. When you are track side, everything is more intense, but it also depends more on the rider. If the rider has a bad day, the bike is not going to work. But maybe the next day, the rider is in a better mood, the same bike as yesterday could be the fastest bike on track. I like both types. I also talked to KTM in the winter to work in the factory. Although in the end, I joined Angeluss MTA for this season. I think it’s also something I have on my mind to do a factory job.”
In the end, of course we also asked Angela to give some advice to young kids who dream to be in motorsport. Here is what she has to say. “Study a lot. Research all the opportunities you can have. Do not pay attention to the people who tell you that you cannot do something because you are a woman. Try your best and learn from others. I think if you can try and if you are lucky, you can reach what you deserve!”
Next up, we have mechanic Tania Jaume Rueda for you!
Paddock Sorority 
Leave a comment